mugura hau yado to wa wakazu aki wa kite kokorozukushi no tsuki zo morikuru
From a mugwort tangled House I am no different: Autumn has come and, Heart draining, The moon comes dripping through.[i]
8
[i] An allusive variation on: Topic unknown. このまよりもりくる月の影見れば心づくしの秋はきにけり ko no ma yori / morikuru tsuki no / kage mireba / kokorozukushi no / aki wa kinikeri ‘Between the trees / Drips moon / Light, seeing it I know / Heart draining / Autumn, has come at last.’ Anonymous (Kokinshū IV: 184)
yorozuyo mo tokiwa naranan kyō no tame iwaite ōsu sono no yomogi wa
For ten thousand ages more Evergreen, I would you be! For today’s Celebration, lushly growing Mugwort in the grounds…
3
Right
そののうちにおふるよもぎのえだしげみすゑさかゆべくみゆるきみかな
sono no uchi ni ouru yomogi no eda shigemi sue sakayubeku miyuru kimi kana
Within the grounds A’growing, the mugwort’s Branches are lush To the very end they flourish, As do you appear to, my Lord!
4
In ancient times, folk arose on this day with the dawn together with the birds and, taking those branches of mugwort from within their grounds that resembled people, dried them in the shade and made medicinal draughts—I wonder, were both Left and Right unaware of this? There is not even a dewdrop’s worth of diction in accordance with the topic, so I must make this round a tie.
かたかたにとるかたもなきよもぎぐさひとかずならぬここちこそすれ
katakata ni toru kata mo naki yomogigusa hito kazu naranu kokochi koso sure
Both sides say Nothing noteworthy about Mugwort plants,so Neither is worth much, I feel!
akihagi no shitaba no tsuyu ni aranedomo kienu bakari zo hito wa koishiki
Upon the autumn bush clover’s Underleaves a dewdrop I am not, yet Simply will I fade away So much do I love him!
Taiyu no Suke 19
Right
わすられて年ふる里の浅茅生に誰がためしける萩の錦ぞ
wasurarete toshi furu sato no asajū ni ta ga tame shikeru hagi no nishiki zo
All forgotten Through the passing years, at my home Among the tangled mugwort, For whose sake is spread The bush clover’s brocade?
The Daughter of His Excellency, the Head
20
I feel that the poem of the Left is conspicuously poetic, saying ‘Simply will I fade away / So much do I love him!’ while the poem of the Right’s ‘Through the passing years, at my home / Among the tangled mugwort, / For whose sake is spread / The bush clover’s brocade?’ makes me want to ask the bush clover the same question! The pull my heart in more than one direction, so here, too, I feel it’s not possible to decide on a winner or loser.
niwa no omo ni shigerinikerashi yaemugura towade ikuyo noaki kaenuran
All around my grounds How thickly seems to have grown Mugwort in layer after tangled layer; With no visits from him how many times Has autumn come round and round?
I had asked that Master of Discipline Kōkaku be accorded the honour of the role of reader at the ceremony for the recitation of the Vimalakīrti nirdeśa Sutra, and when he was constantly passed over, had complained to the Hosshōji Lay Priest and former Palace Minister; even though he mentioned ‘Shimeji plain’, the following year Kōkaku was once more passed over, so I composed this and sent it to him.
契りおきしさせもが露をいのちにてあはれことしの秋もいぬめり
tigiri okisi sasemo ga tuyu wo inoti nite aFare kotosi no aki mo inumeri
A promise dropped, as Dewfall on the mugwort— Such is life, so Miserable, this year’s Autumn must arrive.
